Investigation of the Antimicrobial and Antifungal Activities of Some Moss Species (Scleropodium touretii (Brid.) L.F.Koch, Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. var. lacunosum Brid., Brachythecium glareosum (Bruch ex Spruce) Schimp.)
Anatolian Bryology, vol.11, no.1, pp.72-82, 2025 (TRDizin)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 11 Issue: 1
- Publication Date: 2025
- Doi Number: 10.26672/anatolianbryology.1718549
- Journal Name: Anatolian Bryology
- Journal Indexes: TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Page Numbers: pp.72-82
- Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
- Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
This study evaluated the antibacterial and antifungal activities in ethanol, methanol, acetone, chloroform, hexane,
ethyl acetate and isopropanol extracts of moss species; Scleropodium touretii (Brid.) L.F.Koch, Hypnum
cupressiforme Hedw. var. lacunosum Brid. and Brachythecium glareosum (Bruch ex Spruce) Schimp., which was
collected from the Zonguldak province of Turkey against 10 different microorganisms, including 4 gram-positive
bacteria, 4 gram-negative bacteria and 2 yeast fungi species. Different fractions of the mosses were screened using
the disc diffusion (qualitative), the agar-well diffusion method, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
methods. Inhibition of bacterial growth was compared with that of ciprofloxacin, eritromicin, penicillin and also, for
fungal growth flukanozol-B as positive control and solvents and distilled water as negative control. The tests were
performed in triplicate for each microorganism evaluated. The final results were presented as the arithmetic averages.
The results showed that the most effective solvents were methanol and acetone, while hexane had the lowest
antimicrobial activity. When evaluated in terms of microorganisms; Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli,
Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis showed the highest sensitivity to moss extracts. However, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa and Candida albicans strains were found to be resistant to these extracts. In addition, among the moss
species, H. cupressiforme var. lacunosum was determined to be the most effective species in terms of the number of
affected microorganisms. These findings indicate the potential of mosses for the development of antimicrobial and
antifungal agents. This study provides a basis for the investigation of alternative therapeutic agents that can be
obtained from natural plant sources and paves the way for further studies in this field.
Keywords: Moss, Disk diffusion test, Agar well diffusion method, Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test.